OPW pays multimillion euro bill for garda mobile calls

GARDAÍ have made millions of euro worth of calls on phones supplied by O2, leaving the OPW to pick up the tab.

Under a deal signed between the Office of Public Works (OPW), the Department of Justice, the gardaí and O2 in 1988, free phones were given to gardaí in return for permission to put mobile phone masts on garda stations.

However, despite a widespread perception among gardaí that the phones are free, the OPW has to subtract the cost of all garda calls from the rental income it receives from O2 for masts. However, the value of calls made has escalated far beyond what the OPW anticipated and is currently running at €750,000 annually.